BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Reyna Osorio Martinez, of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, has been sentenced to federal prison for 235 months for her involvement in trafficking methamphetamine into the U.S. from Mexico, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle, who presided over the trial, handed down the sentence this morning.

Osorio, 60, was linked to other individuals and vehicles involved in previous drug trafficking offenses and was found guilty on Sept. 23, 2011, of all counts charged against her - conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import and importation into the United States more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. The Brownsville federal jury deliberated for approximately two hours following a day and a half of trial.

The jury heard testimony that Osorio was arrested after contraband was discovered in the vehicle in which she rode as a passenger to enter the United States through the Brownsville & Matamoros Bridge Port of Entry. Osorio was the passenger in a 2002 Toyota Camry, inside of which seven bundles containing a total of 6.59 kilograms of methamphetamine were found by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers prompting further investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) agents. Osorio told investigating agents that her son-in-law had purchased the vehicle in Matamoros the previous day. However, crossing records showed that she had entered the United States from Mexico in the same Camry on three prior occasions dating back to December 2010 and that she had done so with an individual who was arrested in Laredo with 6.72 kilograms of methamphetamine three days prior to this incident. Agents testified at trial that the street value of the methamphetamine smuggled by Osorio was more than $1 million.

Osorio has been in custody where she will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The case was investigated by ICE-HSI with the assistance of CBP and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Wirsing and William Hagen.